Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Since my friend asked for lemon raspberry cake for her birthday I have been thinking about the flavour combo. I found a recipe for raspberry cornmeal muffins that I thought I would adapt. Plus who doesn't love mini muffins? I know I can't resist.

Monday, December 19, 2011

For this month's Secret Recipe Club I was assigned a lovely blog called Kate's Kitchen. Kate and her husband Connie (AKA her sous chef - cute) seem like they are on the road a lot travelling and visiting with family. Her blog not only has some great recipes but lots of lovely photo's of the places they have been and things they have eaten. The best part of this blog is that Kate gives a lot of recipes for yummy cocktails!

After a day of helping a friend paint and put furniture together I thought it was time for an appetiser and a drink. I found two perfect recipes on Kate's blog. First up was this Grape Relish that I served with toasted baguette. The ingredients in this recipe are suppose to be grilled on the BBQ however it is December and we don't have a BBQ so instead I just cooked everything in a pan.

The cocktail was a Pinapple Sidecar (I traditional sidecar is my favourite drink so I had to try this twist). Kate's recipe used fresh blackberries but instead I used frozen raspberries as the garnish rather than as part of the mix.

Both turned out really delicious. Please check out all the yumminess over on Kate's Kitchen. Cheers Kate!

In a dry pan toast the walnuts. Put into medium bowl and set aside. Add 2 tsp of oil to the pan and caramelise onions. Once cooked let cool and add to the walnuts.

Add the remaining oil and grapes to the pan. Cook until grapes are soft about 10 minutes. While grapes are cooking begin to squish them with the back of a wooden spoon or a potato masher. Let cool then add to mixture.

Finish by chopping the rosemary and adding it along with the balsamic vinegar. Taste and season with salt & pepper.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

We have had some really beautiful fall weather and somehow still don't have snow. Since it had been cooling off we have been making more and more soups. This one was thrown together as we had a jar of pistou in the cupboard. If you happen to have some fresh basil though you can make your own pistou by blending basil, garlic and olive oil together. This soup is sharp, aromatic and lemony.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

I think these black bean brownies have been popular for long enough that I do not need to justify putting beans into a dessert. But just in case you are sceptical all I will say is you can not taste the black beans at all. They just add to the gorgeous texture of these brownies.

Instructions: Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease an 8x8" pan and set aside. Combine all ingredients, except oats, in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth, scrapping sides as needed. Stir in the oats and pour batter into the pan. Bake approximately 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool before slicing.